White Eyebrow Is Still a Twit
by White Eyebrow
Summary: Oh, no… Peeves hacked my account… Merlin, help us! — A hijacked submission written for The Houses Competition, Year 5, Round 6


House: Gryffindor

Class Subject: Potions

Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Spell] Nox

Word Count: 1000 (google docs) 50 (author's notes)

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White Eyebrow Is Still a Twit

It was a typical Halloween in the Gryffindor common room. Bill and Charlie Weasley had just put the finishing touches on their newly-carved pumpkin.

Lacking a proper candle to light it from within, Charlie stuck his wand inside the pumpkin.

"_Lumos."_

Bill stood at the far end of the room to regard the finished product. "What should we name it?"

"How about Jack?" Charlie said. "On account of it being a jack-o'-lantern."

Bill rolled his eyes. "How original."

"It's a carving contest, not a naming contest," Charlie persisted.

Bill rubbed his chin. "The light's not diffusing properly… We should shave a couple of millimeters off the surface so more of it can shine through. Aside from that, it's perfect."

"Brilliant!" Charlie reversed his Lumos Charm. "_Nox."_

The wandlight dimmed, and Charlie removed his hand when the pumpkin started to twitch. A set of legs magically grew out of its sides, followed by a bushy tail at its base. The transformation was completed when the pointy head of a fox protruded on the side opposite from the tail; it greeted the world with a yip.

Charlie gasped.

The pumpkin-fox regarded the two humans. When they made a grab for it, it bolted off the table and hid behind one of the bookcases.

Bill cursed. "What did you do?!"

At a loss, Charlie shrugged. "I didn't do anything!"

"Unlikely..." Bill folded his arms. "What's the last thing you remember_?"_

"I dispelled my Wand-Lighting Charm, and the bloody thing just came to life!"

"Oh, bugger…" The Prefect lowered his head, pinching his brow between two fingers. "You didn't pull your wand out first, did you?"

Charlie shook his head. "Why should that matter?"

"I suspect there wasn't enough room in the pumpkin to flourish your hand properly." He illustratively moved his wand in the pattern used for casting the spell in question. "Instead of extinguishing your wand with a _Nox,_ you Transfigured our Jack into a _fox."_

Charlie sighed and averted his eyes. "What can we do?"

"No worries; he's trapped in here. We'll get him."

Before they could begin searching in earnest, the portal to the common room swung open. As Percy stepped through, a blur of orange shot past him.

"NO!" they screamed in unison.

Percy flinched. "What the devil was that?"

Charlie slapped his forehead. "You let Jack out, Percy!"

The two elder Weasleys ran toward the egress, brushing past a confused Percy.

They exited the portal on the other side and followed a flash of orange at the end of the hall. They rounded the corner and stopped in their tracks, having almost slammed into Madam Hooch.

She yelped. "Merlin!"

"Er, hello, Madam Hooch." Bill blushed under her disapproving frown. "How's your day?"

"Fine, thank you..." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what are you Weasleys up to?"

Before Bill could answer, Charlie impatiently interjected. "_Jack-is-off,_ Madam Hooch!"

Her eyes widened. "Keep your voices down!" She then looked about before replying in a hushed voice, "That is out of the question… I think I do enough for you ingrates already!" With her nose in the air, she went about her business.

Bill stood, gobsmacked, until Charlie pulled him along by his arm. "This way, Bill!"

The brothers found the pumpkin-fox descending the grand staircase, and they followed it to the storey below. They blindly rounded the corner of the East wing, and Charlie collided with Tonks, who also appeared to be in a hurry.

Charlie helped her up. "Tonks! We could really use your help—"

"Sorry, Chuck," she said, looking warily over her shoulder. "This isn't a good time." And she fled.

It wasn't long before the Weasley brothers discovered the inspiration behind her apprehension. A whirling maelstrom of brown bunny rabbits crashed through the door of the girl's lavatory and blew past them. Filch followed soon after, carrying a plunger as he uttered a string of curses.

Bill and Charlie silently witnessed the display, thoroughly nonplussed.

It was then that Peeves, the most magnificent of poltergeists, floated by to witness his marvelous handiwork. He paused to regard the red-haired students—a knowing grin etched across his rugged jaw—and in answer to their perplexed stares, said in a sexy, masculine voice, "I dared Tonks to charm all the toilets so they'd flush in the wrong direction."

Charlie blinked. "Like in Australia and South Africa?"

"Yes..." Being no longer worthy of his precious time, Peeves The Perfect took his leave of them, parting with, "Lovely people, but they do everything arse-backwards down there."

"Let's push on, brother," Bill said finally. "Better _she_ than _we."_

"Which way should we go?"

"I have an idea." Bill brandished his wand and invoked, "_Pepo Revelio!"_

Bill's magic led them to the far side of the wing where they found Professor Sprout, her wand held at the ready as she had trapped the pumpkin-fox in a Stasis Charm.

She regarded them with a knowing look. "This must belong to you two." With a flick of her wrist, sparkles from her wand surrounded the creature. "Pumpkin carving accident, I take it?"

Bill nodded. "How did you know?"

"Happens all the time..." She recited an incantation. "Every year there's at least _one."_ And under her expert ministrations, the pumpkin-fox magically Transfigured back to its original form. "Going forward, be sure to fully extricate your hand _before_ casting the Wand-Extinguishing Charm."

The restored plant magically floated to Charlie's awaiting arms. "Yes, ma'am."

Satisfied, Professor Sprout left the students to their devices. She yelped as she almost slipped on a brown bunny.

Finally alone, Bill clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly. "All's well that ends well." He slapped his brother on the back. "I'll catch up to you later in the common room, yeah?"

Charlie's brow furrowed as his brother made his way briskly down the hall. "Where are you going?"

"To Madam Hooch's office"—Bill glanced over his shoulder with a wry grin—"I detected a pause."

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Peeves' Note: Yes, I know it's not strictly a British idiom, but that makes it all the more evil and thus in keeping with this round's theme. So _nyah!_

A/N: Peeves! WTF?! The toilet thing is a myth!

Peeves' Note: No, it's not! And you're out of words! _Tee-hee!_


End file.
